Maurus Young

Biography:

Dr. Maurus Young also known as Yun-da Yang, was born in 1933 in Wuhan, China.
He graduated at the National Taiwan University, obtained a B.A. degree in 1957; and from the Graduate School of Journalism of the National Chengchi University, obtained a M.A. degree in 1959. He also obtained a doctorate degree from the National Paris University in France in 1986.

He started to write poems at age 15 in Taiwan and his poems were published for the first time on the Chuan Ming Daily News, the former United Daily News in Taipei in 1949, when he was a student of Taipei's Chien Kuo Junior High School. He enrolled into Taipei's Cheng Kung Senior High School in 1950, at age 16, followed his teacher, Prof. Chi Hsuan, and became one of the founding members of the Hsien Dai (Modernist) Poetry Society.

As a poet, writer, journalist and historian, he has published 11 books, namely: "When We Return" (1971), "A Glance of the Beautiful Land and People of Ethiopia" (1972), "Lover of Rainbow" (1972), "A Selection of Poems by Maurus Young" (1972), "Dreams in Paris" (1984), "Collector of Stars" (1984), "Western Sightseeings" (1986), "Li Jin Fa, Pioneer of Modern Symbolism Poetry in China" (1986), "A Jar of Wine" (1993) and "Chants of a Stranger" (Written in Chinese, English and French), 1993, "La Vie et l'Oeuvre de Li Jin Fa," (Written in French), 1996.

He has been serving as Secretary General of the World Congress of Poets (WCP) and the World Academy of Arts & Cultural (WAAC) since 1994 and attended VIII WCP in Corfu, Greece 1985; IX WCP in Madras, India 1986; XI WCP in Cairo, Egypt 1990; XII WCP in Istanbul, Turkey 1991; XIII WCP in Haifa, Israel 1992; XIV WCP in Monterey, Mexico 1993; XV WCP in Taipei, Taiwan 1994; XVII WCP in Seoul, South Korea 1997; XVIII WCP in Bratislava, Slovakia 1998; XIX WCP in Acapulco, Mexico 1999; XX WCP in Thesaloniki, Greece 2000; XXIII WCP in Taipei, Taiwan 2003; XXIV WCP in Seoul, South Korea 2004;
XXV WCP in Los Angeles, U.S.A. in 2005 ; and XXVI WCP in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia in 2006.

As a journalist, he has served as a reporter and foreign correspondent for the Central News Agency, Inc. of Taiwan for 40 years and was based in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia (March 1965- Sept. 1969), Paris, France (March 1973-Dec. 1983, May 1989-June 1992), Johannesbourg, South Africa (Dec. 1986-May 1989), and Geneva, Switzerland (Oct. 1994-Dec. 1998). During the period from November 1969 to March 1973, he served for the Associated Press of the United States of America as it's correspondent in Taipei, covering the exciting historical events of severance of diplomatic ties between Japan and Taiwan, former U.S. President Richard Nixon's visit to Beijing, and the withdrawal of Taiwan from the United Nations. Presently he lives in the suburbs of Paris on the left bank of Seine, writing his autobiography of 50 years' literary careers with contentment.


1. A Pigeon

From the top
A pigeon
Is raising its neck
Looking downward

It is watching the people
Who are walking with their heads bent down

It is listening to the cars
Which are roaring past so quickly

It is playing with the dust flying in the air
While looking downward

It is smelling the polluted air
From the top

Looking downward
Raising its neck
A pigeon
From the top

Oct. 30, 2005, Paris



2. Birthday

On my 72nd anniversary of birthday
My son invited me to a dinner

His five-year-old daughter Chia-lan
My half-chinese-and-half-french granddaughter

Gave me a piece of paper
To convey her greeting message

On the paper
She drew a heart in red

Then, she cut a piece of green paper shaped in a tree
And pasted it aside the heart

Then, she drew again in red
A half-opened lips

And then, signed her name
Lan Young in french

At last, she sung in chinese:
Happy birthday to you


February 22, 2006, Paris


3. Mirror

I am standing
In front of the mirror
Looking from this side
Into the other side

My childhood
Went into mirror

My boyhood
Went into mirror

My middle age
Went into mirror too

How do I appear
In the mirror today?
My naivete disappeared 60 years ago
My handsomeness 40 years ago
My pride 20 years ago

In front of the mirror today
Is standing a silver-haired
Old man
The expression in his eyes
Is so deep, unmeasurable

June 30, 2005, Paris



4. Sunset and Grief

The setting Sun
Has been holding by the ocean
Casting golden light at sea and rosy clouds in the sky

Spring thunders in rain
Has been blockaded by the mountain when traveling in valley
Made the world shaking and frightening

Your sorrow
Being caught by me
Left bloody marks in my heart

My grief
Being taken away by wind
Drifting away as cloud

Dec. 12, 2001, Paris



5. A Fish in Meditation

Lying on grass field in an afternoon
The sky in early Spring
Looks clear and blue as ocean

A jet plane flying over my head
Quietly from afar
Tailed by a chain of cloud

It looks like a boat sailing
In the high sea
Followed by white-crested waves

Another jet plane is coming
Slowly on top
Stirred up with long waves

Hiding in seaweeds
As a fish in meditation
I am in the bottom of sea

February 1, 2006, Paris


© Maurus Young (Yun-da Yang)